Simple Sitemap – Create a Responsive HTML Sitemap

Description

The most popular HTML sitemap available for WordPress just got even simpler to use. You can now build and preview your sitemap visually directly in the post editor!

There’s no need to use confusing and complicated shortcodes anymore. Constant swapping back and forth between the editor and front end is a thing of the past.

Simple Sitemap helps improve your SEO ranking by automatically generating an HTML sitemap of your content. Add a full sitemap literally in seconds. No coding or setup required. Works straight out of the box and includes plenty of flexible customization options.

The latest version now also includes a responsive tabbed layout option that looks fantastic. We’re super excited to share this with you.

KEEPS ON GETTING BETTER

Simple Sitemap is a well-established plugin and has been consistently developed and maintained for several years. It’s currently used on over 80,000 websites.

The big news is that we’ve recently completely overhauled the plugin and added some great new features. Two dedicated editor blocks have been added that allow you to add and edit your sitemap directly inside the new WordPress editor codenamed Gutenberg. You no longer need to leave the editor to preview your sitemap like you do when using shortcodes.

There are also new plugin settings available to determine how parent page links are managed.

INTRODUCING THE NEW SITEMAP EDITOR BLOCKS

The two new sitemap blocks have been added to replace the following shortcodes:

[simple-sitemap]

[simple-sitemap-group]

This means you don’t have to remember a long list of obscure shortcode attributes or go hunting in the documentation to see what features are available.

Simply add a sitemap block to the editor and configure the sitemap settings in the block inspector panel to the right. Everything is managed visually and is very intuitive. If you thought the plugin was easy to use before just wait until you try out the new sitemap blocks!

Be prepared to be blown away at just how quick and easy it is to add a sitemap and configure settings.

SHORTCODES ARE STILL AVAILABLE

Alternatively, if you’re using an older version of WordPress, or you have the Classic Editor plugin installed, then you can still use shortcodes to display a sitemap. Just add the [simple-sitemap] or [simple-sitemap-group] to any page and the sitemap will be visible when the page is viewed on the front end of your site.

However, wherever possible we recommend you switch to using the new sitemap blocks instead as they are just so much easier to use than shortcodes.

WHAT’S THIS? TABBED LAYOUT YOU SAY?

That’s right. We’ve added support for a fully tabbed layout in Simple Sitemap. While a lot of users are happy with displaying a sitemap in one long list you can now optionally display each post type in a separate tab too.

The ordering of sitemap tabs can be controlled via the block inspector panel along with all the other sitemap settings.

The tabs have been implemented via pure CSS and no JavaScript code is needed to render them. This means there’s less to go wrong and the tabs load quicker – they just have a nice snappy rock-solid feel to them.

As a bonus, the tabs are 100% responsive so on mobile devices you can be sure your sitemap still looks great!

FEATURES GALORE

Here’s a breakdown of the features included with Simple Sitemap.

Build sitemap visually. No Shortcodes needed!

Preview sitemap directly in the editor.

Choose from standard or tabbed layouts.

Beautiful 100% CSS sitemap tabs. (no JavaScript)

Display any number of posts or pages.

List sitemap items in ascending or descending order.

Sort by field. (e.g. title, author, date, ID)

Optionally display post excerpt.

Toggle post type label.

Display individual sitemap items as text or links.

Sitemap shortcodes available as an alternative to blocks.

Plugin settings to manage parent page links.

Intelligent script handling.

Support for multiple sitemaps per page.

Scripts used by the plugin will only be added to posts or pages that contain a sitemap block. They will NOT be added globally to all pages which would be inefficient.

Also, each sitemap has a unique ID assigned to it which is used to namespace the CSS. This enables you to add multiple sitemaps to a page and apply different settings/styles to each one.

ADVANCED SITEMAP FEATURES

Simple Sitemap Pro has been designed for sitemaps that need more features and advanced configuration options.

It contains more blocks, more shortcodes, and plenty of user interface controls for fine-grained control over exactly what’s included in the sitemap and how it’s rendered. This added flexibility allows you to generate almost any type of sitemap you can think of!

Installation

In the list of relevant Plugins click the ‘Install’ link for Simple Sitemap on the right-hand side of the page.

Click the ‘Install Now’ button on the popup page.

Click ‘Activate Plugin’ to finish the installation.

If you’re using WordPress 5.0 then inside the new editor click the plus icon to insert a new block. In the pop-up dialog box that appears either search directly for ‘sitemap’ or scroll down until you see the Simple Sitemap section, and expand it. Click on the sitemap block icon to add it to the editor. When the block is selected configure sitemap options as necessary via the inspector panel.

If you’re using an older version of WordPress add the [simple-sitemap] or [simple-sitemap-group] shortcode to a page to display the sitemap on the front end of your site.

See plugin settings for more details of available options.

FAQ

Where can I see all the available sitemap blocks, shortcodes, and attributes?

While this used to be a good solution in the repository, it no longer provides the basic functionality of being able to exclude pages from your sitemap. Every sitemap needs to exclude pages. The repository version of this plugin used to include this basic function, and it was a 5 star option. While the author has put many years of development into the plugin and needs to support future development it seems that removing a vital piece of basic functionality is not the way to do it. This plugin with missing basics no longer belongs in the free repository. This changes broke many client sites that need to be fixed for free or will have unplanned expense passed on to them. In addition, if I stick with the plugin it means going to my clients with increased annual costs. I don't believe the plugin author considered how this change would affect people with clients. I would be hesitant to use their other plugins going forward as this change was pretty big, was not communicated well, and not a good experience as a professional.

Fixed bug where existing Plugin users saw no posts/pages on the sitemap after upgrade to 1.51.

Added a ‘Settings’ link to the main Plugins page, next to the ‘Deactivate’ link to allow easy navigation to the Simple Sitemap Plugin options page.

1.51

Updated WordPress compatibility version.

Update to Plugin option page text.

1.5

Updated for WordPress 3.5.1.

Minor CSS bug fixed.

ALL Plugin styles affecting the sitemap have been removed to allow the current theme to control the styles. This enables the sitemap to blend in with the current theme, and allows for easy customisation of the CSS as there are plenty of sitemap classes to hook into.

All sitemap content is now listed in a single column to allow for additional listings for CPT to be added later.

New Plugin options to show/hide posts or pages.

1.4.1

Minor updates to Plugin options page, and some internal functions.

1.4

Plugin option added to exclude pages by ID!

Bug fix: ALL posts are now listed and are not restricted by the Settings -> Reading value.

1.3.1

Fixed HTML bug. Replaced deprecated function.

1.3

Dropdown sort boxes on the front end now work much better in all browsers. Thanks to Matt Bailey for this fix.

1.28

Changed the .sticky CSS class to be .ss_sticky to avoid conflict with the WordPress .sticky class.

1.27

Fixed minor bug in ‘Posts’ view, when displaying the date. There was an erroneous double quotes in the dates link.